Royals sign goaltender Gill

Reading, Pa. – The Reading Royals, ECHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, today announced that the team has signed goaltender Riley Gill to an ECHL contract. In separate transactions, the Royals announced that forward Ian O’Connor has been loaned to the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL; the Hershey Bears have loaned forward T.J. Syner to Reading and forward David Marshall was returned to Reading from the Binghamton Senators of the AHL.

Gill, a third year pro from Northfield, Minn., has played 38 games this season—and a league-leading 2,293 minutes—with the Louisiana IceGators of the Southern Professional Hockey League. He currently leads the league with 25 wins, five of which have come by shutout. Gill, who has made 1,043 saves for the IceGators this year (second best in the SPHL), has the fourth best goals-against average in the league (2.43). Last season, Gill played 44 games for the Kalamazoo Wings and recorded the fifth most wins in the league (24), as he helped the K-Wings advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Gill had a record setting four year collegiate career at Western Michigan University, where he earned All-CCHA All-Rookie team honors in his freshman year, and concluded his time in college with the most games played (111) and the best all-time save percentage in WMU history.

For O’Connor, a second year pro from Londonderry, N.H., this marks his first call-up of the year to the AHL. O’Connor has 31 points (18g-13a) and picked up 38 penalty minutes in 55 games with Reading this season. O’Connor, who leads the Royals with 148 shots on goal, played two games last season in the AHL with the Worcester Sharks.

This marks the fifth trip of the year to Reading for Syner, a first year pro from Springfield, Mass. Syner, who is currently riding a six-game point streak with the Royals (3g-6a), has 10 points (3g-7a) in nine games with Reading. Syner has seven points (3g-4a) and 15 penalty minutes in 34 games with Hershey this year.

For Marshall, a fourth year pro from Buffalo, Minn., he returns to the Royals after a six-game stint in Binghamton, where he registered 12 penalty minutes. He was loaned to the Senators on Feb. 14 after recording 47 points (17g-30a) and 85 penalty minutes in 52 games with the Royals.